Teresa Kok unfazed by Utusan attack

Teresa Kok unfazed by Utusan attack

By Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 – Seputeh lawmaker Teresa Kok was surprised to learn today that she had been made the target of an assassination in a thinly-veiled plot of a short story publised in a weekend edition of the Malay-language newspaper Utusan Malaysia last Sunday.

She told The Malaysian Insider that she found out when fellow legislator for Ipoh Timur Lim Kit Siang brought it up in the House late this evening.

She had not read the story herself, only skimmed through it, she said.

She declined to comment on the piece of fiction.

"My lawyers have advised me against making anymore statements against them," she said, referring to her three counsels - Sankara Nair, Karpal Singh, Param Cumareswamy - in her RM30 million defamation suit against Utusan Malaysia.

"I have filed a lawsuit against them. They have filed a lawsuit against me. I don't think I should speak about this anymore," she added.

Outwardly, she seemed unaffected by the story. But when asked if she planned to engage bodyguards to ensure her safety, she said: "Maybe outside. There are enough bodyguards inside Parliament."

Lim had read aloud an excerpt of the article penned by Datuk Chamil Wariya, a former magazine group editor, which described the assassination of a fictitious political figure called "YBJ" whom he alleged was modelled on Kok.

In the story, YBJ was killed by a youngster with a pistol, releasing several shots straight to her heart. Lim had mentioned the article in relation to national security issues while debating the 2009 Budget.

The senior DAP leader condemned the article and called on his fellow parliamentarians to make a strong stand against the established newspaper which he alleged was inciting its readers to kill a lawmaker.